Believe in Birth Order

Believe in Birth-Order

            We know that how your parents raise you effects your personality. We know that your experience through life, or your personal morals effect it as well. However studies have shown that birth order might be one of the leading factors that influence a person’s personality.

               A study was done in which it was shown that people seem to choose people of the similar birth-order as their friends or spouses. They hypothesize that this is due to fact that people with like personalities tend to attract one another, showing that birth-order does have an effect on personality and personal choices. Another study showed that the larger number of older siblings you have the lower your IQ .

               Common traits for oldest children usually are ambitious, energetic, logical and scholarly. They can also be split into two categories, compliant or aggressive. Compliant first borns tend to be more nurturing and tend to be people pleasers, where aggressive first borns are more outgoing and driven.

               Middle born children are often the hardest to read, and are also broken down into two groups. The first type of middle child is quiet, shy, impatient, and uptight. The second type is outgoing, friendly, laid back, and patient. As you can see the two types of middle born children are very different, but research suggests that they seem to act the opposite of their older sibling. Some traits that both types have in common are rebellious, competitive, and peacekeeping.  Middle children are seen as usually being the most creative, and have a tendency to avoid confrontation at all costs.

               Finally, the youngest child, who is also the easiest for scientists to evaluate. Youngest children are secretive, sensitive, immature, caring, hard working, and risk takers. They are often given the role of being the baby of the family which they certainly live up to. It is often hard for youngest children to find their own role within the family because the oldest and middle child have already made their own place and have left footprints that the youngest needs to fill.

               Although much research has been done into the effects of birth order and personality, and many self help books have been written claiming to aid peoples decisions in life based on their place in a family, the research in ongoing and not entirely exclusive. Each child is different, and although birth order may give us some clues as to how they will act in the future, it important to treat them as an individual and not stereotype them before they have given their personalities a chance to develop.